This invention relates to a skin protectant, usually for use after skin cleansing. It is a protectant that is especially designed for irritated and compromised skin of the type often accompanying chronic incontinence.
Incontinence, as those involved with hospital health care readily know, often drastically irritates the skin, even causing its surface to be severely compromised. This can and often does cause discomfort and pain to the patient. It is therefore necessary to have effective skin protectants that will protect the compromised skin from the irritation of feces and urine and also be removable by washing.
Many of the protectants that are now used contain a zinc oxide pigment in order to enhance wound healing. Zinc oxide, however, is not particularly liked by hospital care administrators since it masks the underlying wound, making it unavailable for view.
For use with patients associated with chronic diarrhea, enzymatic drainage, or particularly incontinence, a skin protectant needs to be one which provides a good moisture barrier, effectively protects against the irritation caused by feces and urine, and one which is clear for easy observation of the underlying wound. It should also be one which will not dry out.
Basically in providing skin care protectants for incontinence, the nurse applicator has a choice between oil based products and non oil based products. To a certain extent, the choice between those is a matter of preference. Thus, there are some care administrators that will only use oil based products and others that will only use products which avoid an oil base. There is, therefore, a continuing need for effective products of both types.
Turning to the more traditional oil based products, those usually contain petrolatum, or in other words, Vaseline.RTM.. While Vaseline has been used as a skin protectant for many years, when it comes to compromised skin particularly of the type associated with incontinence, Vaseline based skin protectants have their problems. In the first instance, they are not clear, and as a result the underlying wound cannot easily be seen. This often is disliked by nurse applicators who cannot accurately assess the underlying wound without clear visibility through the skin care product. Secondly, petrolatum or Vaseline based products have a high degree of drag and therefore hurt both upon application and in removal during cleansing. If the skin is ulcerated in any way, the adhesive or sticky nature of Vaseline may in fact cause damage to the skin both during application and removal.
It therefore can be seen that there is a continuing need for an oil based product which is clear so the underlying wound can be easily seen, which has the correct amount of product drag for use with irritated and compromised skin, and which will not dry out. Ideally the product should have an oily feel as well, but not be unduly greasy. In other words, an oily feel is preferred by some, but too much gives an adverse impression of grease which nurse applicators do not like.
The primary objective of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages earlier mentioned for traditional oil based skin protectants of the type especially designed for use with irritated skin normally associated with chronic diarrhea, enzymatic drainage or incontinence.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a skin protectant which is clear for easy viewing of the underlying wound.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide an oil based skin protectant which has the correct drag for use with irritated skin normally associated with incontinence.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a skin protectant which has the advantage of oil based skin protectants but which does not use petrolatum, and yet which is stable, easy to formulate, and suitable for use in tube dispensers.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an anhydrous, crystal clear oil based skin protectant which does not dry out.
The method and manner of accomplishing each of the above objectives as well as others will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows.